MOULTRIE, Ga. (WALB) — The only man ever convicted by a jury in the execution-style murders of five Colquitt County residents walked out of custody Friday, Aug. 7—and the district attorney said his office will never be able to retry the case.

Alexander Woods III, whose 2013 conviction was overturned on a legal technicality, was released Aug. 8, according to records from the Georgia Department of Corrections. He is now reporting to a community supervision officer in the Southwestern Circuit in Valdosta.

For the surviving family members of the victims, the release reopened wounds that have never fully healed—and brought a painful coincidence they cannot ignore.

Aug. 8 is also the birthday of Juan Carlos Resendez—the 3-year-old boy who was among those killed. He would have turned 24 on Aug. 8, 2026.

‘They left them there for us to find’

On Nov. 8, 2004, five people were shot execution-style inside a home on Highway 37 in Colquitt County. The victims were Jaime Cruze Resendez, 24; his wife Katrina “Tina” Watts Resendez, 29; their 3-year-old son Juan Carlos Resendez; Tina’s mother Betty Faye Watts, 50; and the family’s housekeeper, Liliana Alegria Aguilar, 30. Four of the victims represented three generations of the same family.

Javier Martinez, who was 9 years old at the time, is the son of Jaime Resendez and the grandson of Betty Watts. His brother Jorge Martinez was 7. Both boys came home from school that afternoon to find their family dead.

“They ended up killing all five people that were there,” Javier Martinez said. “My baby brother, 3 years old, my mother, stepfather, grandmother and family friend that was with us at the time. They killed every single one. They bound them and then executed them, execution style. And left them there for us to find when we got home.”

Javier said the memory has never left him.

“Something like that isn’t just easily forgotten,” he said. “It’s scarred, etched in your mind. And you live with it day in, day out.”

Jorge Martinez, who was 7 at the time, said the trauma changed him permanently.

“I see the picture in my head daily,” Jorge Martinez said. “I know something like this changes you, but I remember that change. It’s like, once I seen it, something in me just—just like a switch just flipped.”

The investigation and conviction

Investigators determined the murders were drug-related. Jaime Resendez had been involved in a marijuana distribution ring that stretched from Mexico through Texas to South Georgia. According to court records, co-defendant Jerry “Johnny” Thompson had sent Woods and another man, Anthony Davis, to the Resendez home to confront Jaime Resendez over missing money and drugs.

Thompson later testified that Davis called him urgently to come to the home, and when Thompson arrived, he found the family already dead and Woods searching for money.

Davis never stood trial. According to court documents, he was shot to death and his body set on fire in January 2005 by an unknown individual.

Thompson pleaded guilty to five counts of murder in 2011 and was sentenced to five concurrent life terms. He was already serving a 20-year federal sentence on drug charges.

In May 2013, a jury convicted Woods of five counts of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms in prison.

A third defendant, Wilma Ann Yvonne Stover, was convicted of aggravated assault in connection with the murders. Georgia Department of Corrections records show she was incarcerated from November 2013 to April 2014. Federal Bureau of Prisons records show she had previously served approximately four years on federal drug conspiracy charges, released in October 2009. She has been out of custody for more than 12 years.

Conviction overturned on legal technicality

In 2019, the Colquitt County Superior Court denied Woods’ motion for a new trial. But in August 2021, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned that ruling and ordered the lower court to reconsider, documents show.

The court found that Woods’ original defense attorney had failed to properly cross-examine Thompson—the state’s only witness to directly identify Woods as a participant in the killings. The ruling was based on “ineffective assistance of counsel,” not on new evidence of innocence.

On May 31, 2022, Colquitt County Superior Court Judge Howard McClain ordered Woods a new trial. Judge Brian McDaniel, who had presided over the original case, recused himself because he had been the prosecutor who tried the case.

Family members of the victims said they were notified only days before a bond hearing was scheduled.

“He actually called me about [Woods] going for a bond hearing,” Javier Martinez said. “When stuff like that happens, it’s months in the making, so I don’t know why we were so behind getting notified.”

According to the family, bond was initially set at $450,000, then later reduced to $200,000. Woods was released Aug. 8, 2026. A notification letter from the Georgia Office of Victim Services, dated Aug. 6, 2026—two days before his release—informed the family of his impending release.

‘We can’t retry it’

District Attorney Bradfield Shealy said on Aug. 10 that Woods’ release came after he pleaded to voluntary manslaughter on a separate prison murder in Macon County and was given time served on that charge.

Georgia Department of Corrections records confirm Woods was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Macon County on Aug. 8, 2016, and sentenced to 20 years. He served approximately 10 years before his release.

But the more significant issue, Shealy said, is that his office cannot retry Woods for the five murders.

Shealy said that Thompson—the only witness to ever directly place Woods at the scene—is serving life in prison and refuses to cooperate with prosecutors. Without his testimony, Shealy said there is no fingerprint evidence, no DNA evidence and no viable case.

Shealy also said that because the case was reversed on the grounds of ineffective cross-examination of Thompson, the original trial transcript would likely not be admissible in a new proceeding—meaning even Thompson’s prior testimony could not be used against Woods.

The DA said that a reversal does not mean Woods is innocent. It means the case was thrown out on a legal technicality—specifically, that the defense attorney’s failure to adequately cross-examine the state’s key witness denied Woods a fair trial under the law.

Shealy called it one of the hardest decisions in his 40 years as a prosecutor.

The family said they were led to believe the prison murder conviction would prevent Woods from ever being released.

“They were kinda giving us false hope,” Javier Martinez said. “And then in the end, when it all happened—oh, now he’s being let out on our brother’s birthday. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

‘Somebody dropped the ball’

Woods’ criminal record, obtained by WALB from the Georgia Department of Corrections, shows a lengthy history of drug and violence-related convictions in addition to the 2016 manslaughter. Prior convictions include multiple cocaine-related offenses out of Lowndes County dating to 2009.

Jorge Martinez said the family feels the legal system failed them at every turn.

“It was his lawyers’ fault for not asking these questions,” Jorge said. “So why is the family having to pay for that?”

Javier Martinez echoed his brother’s frustration.

“Somebody dropped the ball. Big time,” Javier Martinez said. “Something’s gotta come of it. Something.”

Both brothers said they plan to continue fighting for accountability—carrying on the legacy of their grandfather, Thomas Jerry Watts, who led the family’s push for justice for nearly a decade before dying of cancer approximately three years ago.

“My grandfather fought for almost 10 years to get Alexander Woods put away,” Javier Martinez said. “I definitely feel it falls on me to continue this fight.”

What happens next

With the DA’s office confirming it cannot retry the case, Woods faces no further murder charges. He remains under community supervision in the Southwestern Circuit, assigned to Coordinating Chief Community Supervision Officer Mike Reeves, according to the Georgia Office of Victim Services.

WALB reached out to the Georgia Department of Community Supervision, which said WALB’s request has been submitted and it is under review.

WALB also reached out to the Georgia Office of Victim Services. They said they are only responsible for telling a family when someone is being released.

Woods’ appeal attorney, Matthew Winchester, was contacted for comment as well. We have not heard back from him yet.

Woods’ conviction was overturned on a legal technicality. He has not been declared innocent by any court.

WALB will continue to follow this story. Stay with us for updates on-air and online.

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